Lichen - Kingdoms Slideshow

We love lichen at Biology4Kids. They are cool symbiotic organisms that are made of fungi and photosynthetic algae. While they might not be a kingdom on their own, they are worth a comment.

Neither of the two species can survive on their own and as they grow,
lichen form an amazing variety of shapes. You will usually find them in
very clean areas where rocks or plant debris are being decomposed.
We have found them on several of our national forest and ski trips.
You might even be far above the tree line in a very cold area and still
find tiny lichen on the side of a rock. They are very sturdy in many
climates, but die quickly in polluted areas.

The image above shows examples of crustose, foliose, and map lichen species. Notice how different the shapes and colors can be.